has wielded anti-Rohingya rhetoric as a part of its policy, left campaigns of anti-Rohingya
hate speech unchecked, as well as condoned its authorities’ arbitrary arrest and detention
of Rohingya and destruction of their properties.16
Campaigns of anti-Rohingya hate speech and disinformation recently emerged in Indonesia,
where at least 1,889 Rohingya refugees – over three-quarters of whom are women and
children – arrived in 12 boats departing from Bangladesh since November 2023 according
to WPN’s sources.17 Reports surfaced of social media platforms hosting narratives vilifying
the Rohingya ethnic minority as having “poor morals,” lacking hygiene practices by being
“unclean” and “defecating everywhere,” and of not being “real Muslims.”18 On TikTok, users
uploaded and shared videos of posters with anti-Rohingya hate speech in Indonesia, as
well as impersonations of Rohingya refugees allegedly rejecting food aid.19 Such platforms
also hosted xenophobic content depicting Rohingya as “colonizing” Indonesia as was
demonstrated by a December 19, 2023 video of a Holland America Line cruise ship
captioned as Rohingya arriving in the city of Surabaya; users shared the video on Facebook
and on TikTok, which attracted more than 1.3 million views.20 Another video on TikTok
falsely compared the Rohingya refugees’ arrival in Aceh to the Israeli authorities, against
which the Indonesian public has long yielded widespread opposition.21 Posts framing
Rohingya as illegally entering Indonesia also surfaced on X, which hosted a video of what it
portrays as Rohingya refugees acquiring “fake IDs” in the country.22
16
“Anti-Muslim hate speech in India spikes around elections, report says,” Al Jazeera, September 26, 2023,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/26/anti-muslim-hate-speech-in-india-spikes-around-elections-report-says;
Tarushi Aswani, “Rohingya Refugees File PIL Against Facebook in Delhi High Court,” The Wire, January 20, 2024,
https://thewire.in/law/rohingya-refugees-file-pil-against-facebook-in-delhi-high-court; “India,” 2023-2024 Statistical
Risk Assessment for Mass Killing, Early Warning Project, last accessed March 4, 2024,
https://earlywarningproject.ushmm.org/countries/india.
17
“Indonesia: Protect Newly Arrived Rohingya Refugees: Investigate, Prevent Anti-Rohingya Violence in Aceh,”
Human Rights Watch, January 16, 2024,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/16/indonesia-protect-newly-arrived-rohingya-refugees; ASEAN Regional
Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship, “Joint Solidarity Statement: Confronting the Influence of Online Hate
Campaigns in the Forced Explusion of Rohingya from Indonesia,” Manushya Foundation, January 17, 2024,
https://www.manushyafoundation.org/js-onlinehatecampaign-rohingya; Office of them United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, “Rohingya Refugee Maritime Movements.”
18
Teddy Farhan, “Demonization of Rohingya in Indonesia: An Analysis on Social Media Narratives,” Modern
Diplomacy, December 30, 2023,
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/12/30/demonization-of-rohingya-in-indonesia-an-analysis-on-social-media-narrati
ves/; Rebecca Ratcliffe, “The online hate campaign turning Indonesians against Rohingya refugees,” The Guardian,
January 18, 2024,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/the-online-hate-campaign-turning-indonesians-against-rohingya-re
fugees.
19
Farhan, “Demonization of Rohingya in Indonesia: An Analysis on Social Media Narratives.”
20
“Video of cruise ship misrepresented as ‘Rohingya refugees arriving in Indonesia’,” Agence France-Presse, January
18, 2024, https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34DQ9WM.
21
Aisyah Llewellyn, “Indonesians rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza,” Al Jazeera, December 10, 2023,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/10/indonesians-rally-in-support-of-palestinians-in-gaza.
22
“Viral Pengungsi Rohingya Sudah Masuk NTT dan Pegang KTP Palsu, Ini Faktanya,” detikNews, December 16,
2023,
https://news.detik.com/berita/d-7092880/viral-pengungsi-rohingya-sudah-masuk-ntt-dan-pegang-ktp-palsu-ini-fakt
anya; Asumsi (@asumsico), “Polres Belu, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) menangkap delapan pengungsi etnis Rohingya
di Desa Takirin, Kecamatan Tasifeto Timur pada Minggu (10/12/2023) . . . ,” X, December 18, 2023,
https://x.com/asumsico/status/1736724807360852277?s=20; Farhan, “Demonization of Rohingya in Indonesia: An
Analysis on Social Media Narratives.”
6